358 MUSCI. * Ephemerum. 



1. EPHEMERUM, Hanipe. 



Very minute gregarious annuals, on bare damp earth ; filamentous prothallus per- 

 sistent, erect and much branched ; stem very short, simple. Leaves soft, ovate to 

 oblong-lanceolate, coarsely serrate or incised ; areolation loose, rhombic-hexagonal. 

 Male jilants near the base of the somewhat larger female and upon the same prothal- 

 lus, of 3 or 4 leaves and bud-like, with a few minute oblong antheridia, deciduous 

 at maturity. Calyptra thin, campanulate, incised at base. Capsule immersed or 

 emergent, subsessile, acuminate-ovate or globose, without columella. Spores not 

 many, large, reniform. 



Eight species are found in Europe and North America. 



1. E. serratum, Hampe. Prothallus deep green, dense and velvety : stem with 

 long rootlets : lower leaves ovate, acuminate, ecostate, much smaller than the long- 

 lanceolate upper ones ; teeth usually spreading or recurved : capsule subglobose, 

 shortly acuminate, brownish purple, shining: spores 50 to 100, ferruginous. — 

 Bruch & Schimp. Bryol. Eur. t. 1 ; Schimp. Syn. 2 ed. t. 1. Phascum serratum, 

 Schreb. Phase. 9, t. 2 ; Wilson, Bryol. Brit. t. 5 ; Sulliv. in Gray's Manual, 2 ed. 614. 



In fields and meadows, Mission Dolores (Bolandcr) ; also in the Atlantic States and throughout 

 Europe. 



2. SPH^RANGIUM, Schimp. 



With nearly the habit of Ephemermn, tlie prothallus often absent : leaves of 

 firmer texture, imbricate, ovate to ovate-oblong or obovate, concave or cariuate, cos- 

 tate, minutely papillose toward the apex and the areolation closer than below ; 

 chlorophyll scanty or wanting. Calyptra minute, mitriform, irregularly circumscis- 

 sile at base, very fugaceous. Capsule immersed, erect on a short pedicel or subpen- 

 tlulous, globose, shining, brownish-orange ; columella present, thickish. Spores 

 subglobose. — Acaulon, Muell. 



Four species are known, two of Europe and the Atlantic States, one Texan, and one Australian. 

 1. S. muticum, Srliimp. Bud-like, the fruiting plant oblong-conical, pale or 

 bi'ownish : lower leaves ()^•ate-acuminate, more or less recurved, the middle ovate- 

 oblong, recurved-acurainate, not carinate, mucronate with the excurrent costa, the 

 upper 2 (or 3) infolding each other, often deeply erose at the apex, 3 times longer 

 than the erect orange-colored capsule. — Syn. Muse. Eur. 2 ed. 13, t. 1 ; Bruch & 

 Schimp. Bryol. Eur. t. 4. Phascum mrUieum, Schreb. Phase. 8, t. 1, fig. 11, 12. 

 Acaulon muticum, Muell. ; Sulliv. & Lesq. Muse. Am.-Bor. Exsiec. 2 ed. n. 32. 



At Mission Dolores, with the last {BoJandcr) ; Atlantic States, Europe and South Africa. 



S. TRIQUETRUM, Schimp., if it occurs in California, may be distinguished by its 3-ranked cari- 

 nate leaves, the perichfetial always 3, and the capsule horizontal upon the curved pedicel. The 

 Atlantic States form is said to be intermediate between the two. 



3. PHASCUM, Linn. 

 Stouter than the preceding, rarely annual and usually reproduced from the base, 

 growing on the ground, the prothallus soon disappearing. Stem simple or 2-3- 

 parted. Leaves rather firm, costate, broadly lanceolate, entire ; areolation below 

 loose, oblong and hyaline, minutely subquadrate and chlorophyllose above. Male 

 flowers at the base of the stem or branches, with 1 to several perigonial leaves. 

 Calyptra cucullate. Capsule shortly pedicellate, subglobose to ovate-oblong, apicu- 

 late or beaked, with free sporangium and persistent columella. Spores smaller. 



